The markets were mostly flat today as options expiration, coupled with earnings and consumer data caused indecision overall. The Dow 30 was down 16, the S&P 500 was flat, and the Nasdaq 100 gained 15. Next week the focus remains on earnings along with FOMC speeches Monday.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) enjoyed a nice 4.26% gain today which pushed up to a 17 year high on heavy volume. The record breaking bounce comes after the company released an earnings beat. The focus was the companies bet on the cloud which has proven to be a good one. The company announced a beat on both its top and bottom lines for its fiscal first quarter as sales of its cloud business more doubled from a year ago. Overall revenue also got a bump, rising 3% after falling for the past five quarters.
McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) also enjoyed a nice gain today (+2.59%) as the fast food chain announced better than expected earnings and revenue for the quarter ending September 30th. Global sales increased 3.5% while US same store sales rose 1.3%. The company said that their all day breakfast offering along with value meals continued to drive growth.
General Electric (NYSE: GE) announced earnings that topped forecasts for the third quarter. However, shares remained lower (-0.31%) due to the company missing its revenue estimates citing slow economic growth which weighed on its oil and gas businesses. This prompted GE to lower its revenue guidance for the year and increase its stock buyback by $4 billion.